President's Message

It has been an honor to serve the Friends as president during these past years. The dedication and talents of our Board and many volunteers make our work satisfying and productive. Mount Hope Cemetery is indeed the “jewel of the City of Rochester,” and it is a privilege for the Friends to be an integral part of improving, beautifying, and promoting this national landmark.

Our mission is to optimize the cemetery's potential as a cultural resource through education, preservation, and promotion of Mount Hope Cemetery's unique heritage. All year long we work to fulfill this mission. We share a passion for historic preservation and education. Who could imagine an all-volunteer organization spearheading so many projects to preserve this community treasure and share its historic significance with people all over the United States?

In the past year we have repaired and reset over 500 gravestones – all of this work done by professional craftspeople with credentials for historic preservation. This is expensive – but once these repairs are made, we are committed to maintaining the areas that we have restored. The funds for this delicate work come from our membership income as well as community grants and donations.

Our commitment to education is reflected in our rich tour program – from our walking tours three times a week during the spring, summer, and fall, our weekday tours for school children and adult groups, our private tours, bus tours, and van tours. Our year-round speakers’ bureau provides knowledgeable researchers who go out into the community to give talks. This year we will be starting tram tours to serve the needs of visitors with walking challenges.

We are dedicated stewards of this rich resource. You will find us planting trees, cleaning stones, tagging trees, establishing wild flower meadows, and removing invasive species. We preserve the habitat for our native plants, trees, and wildlife. Our cradle grave program, now in its fourth year, has greatly expanded this year as many buried and abandoned cradle graves have been discovered and repaired. Many new gardening volunteers are joining this program, adding splashes of color and beauty amid formerly neglected graves.

Our project to honor the Holocaust survivors buried at Mount Hope has been recognized throughout our community and state. The memorial site will be completed this year. Our dedicated Holocaust committee members are researching more and more of these survivors and writing their stories on our website.

Mount Hope, a municipally-owned cemetery, is an invaluable resource, and we want our local citizens and visitors as well to appreciate the history of our community and celebrate the contributions that the residents of Mount Hope have made to our nation's history. Our you tube channel features “Mount Hope Moments" -- digital vignettes based on research into Mount Hope's rich cultural history. Our “Mourning in the Mourning” presentations provide a forum for our members to present their research to a national audience. Our quarterly magazine, the Epitaph, shares Mount Hope stories and events.

We appreciate your support. Become a member, join us for tours, donate to our projects. Take a walk in this vast wonderland and enjoy its beauty year round. Celebrate our website, and visit our Facebook page. And become a volunteer! We would love to have you. Remember, we all can do something to preserve and promote this historical treasure.

Mount Hope Cemetery belongs to us all!

April 2022